they should not have a storage unit. It breaks my heart to see people whom are obviously struggling to make ends meet pay me money they could use a thousand better ways, but they're unable to part with things. Ultimately, if they decide to move forward and rent a unit, at least I know I will treat them better than any other facility within a 20 mile radius. Having them end up at a corporate facility that jacks them up on a 90 day schedule will be worse for them.

My typical line is "if you can store it here with me, some miles from where you live, THIS is the definition of you not needing it in your life". I also point out with kindness that storage is a band aid for their lack of discipline. If they could sell everything they plan on storing, put that into an account and then deposit the $200 per month into that account instead of giving it to me for unit rent, whenever they needed anything they could use that money to buy it new and still have money left over. But, they lack the discipline to do it.

Obviously, this doesn't apply to many users of storage, but it is the clear majority. I have units that have been rented since 1987. I don't even remember what the people look like, they never come to the unit. I was a young man with a newborn son back then, and now I have 13 grandkids.... their stuff still sits here. These people have paid me somewhere in the neighborhood of $70,000 over that period of time.

One lady just came to empty out the unit she had for 30 years, she loaded it all into a trailer and took it to the dump. When her mother passed 30 years ago, her mother asked her to not get rid of "her stuff". So the daughter dutifully paid me $50,000 to store it in a closet for 30 years. I'm sure mom was yelling her guts out from heaven "STOP GIVING THAT CLOWN MONEY FOR TRASH!" , but it was her own doing. Finally, after 30 years, the daughter just got fed up and hauled it away.

When I served as Bishop, I met with many people with money issues and asked them if they had a storage unit. Almost all did, some had multiple. First thing I told them is that the ward could not help them as long as they had storage unit fees, so we'll meet at their unit in Saturday and empty it all out. People would ask me at church about getting a unit, I'd tell them they didn't need one. (of course, there are exceptions to this generalization)

I also have people that are living abroad for a year or two, or sailing the world, or remodeling their home, or storing an exotic car, or needing to empty a residence for sale, between moves, etc. These are the needs that are filled nicely with reliable, secure, affordable storage options.